


Somewhere Far Beyond

by Madcinder



Series: Somewhere Far Beyond [1]
Category: Cthulhu Mythos - Fandom, Cthulhu Mythos - H. P. Lovecraft, Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magika | Puella Magi Madoka Magica
Genre: Alternate Universe - Future, Apocalypse, Elder God, Gen, Great Old Ones, Horror, Immortals in Space, Lovecraftian, Lovecraftian Monster(s), Outer Space, Post-Rebellion Story, Psychological Horror, Science Fiction
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-17
Updated: 2017-02-17
Packaged: 2018-09-25 02:10:07
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,308
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9797864
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Madcinder/pseuds/Madcinder
Summary: When the rules of the universe are rewritten one time too many, Saldor, the Servant of the King, takes Homura Akemi prisoner. Now, Madoka and her friends journey across the stars to save their immortal enemy from a force somewhere far beyond them all. Time and space have little meaning to their new foe, the creator of the Incubators, from outside the universe.This story has been broken up into a series, each arc being presented as a separate work.





	1. The Call Of Saldor

_You are a toy, dear child. A plaything of some cosmic entity that cares not for you in the slightest. You are a fragile tool being used by an incompetent master to reach trivial goals. Nothing you do has worth, and nothing you can ever do could ever have worth. And what's more, you will never achieve the goals you have set before yourself. You are the true definition of deluded idiocy. It pains me to know that such a sickly, empty, and aimless soul exists and allows itself to conceive that it is the ultimate power. **YOU DON'T KNOW POWER.  
**_

_I, Saldor, the lowest of our King's servants, will put this self-proclaimed devil in her place. When I am through with you, you will have only begun to comprehend what lies beyond._

* * *

Three girls walked along the hallway at school. In the middle was a short girl with pink pigtails done up in yellow ribbons, who was smiling contentedly. On her right was a taller blue-haired girl who was doing most of the talking. On the left was a girl with long dark hair tied back by a red ribbon, a lazy smile on her face. These were Madoka Kaname, Sayaka Miki, and Homura Akemi respectively.

Sayaka kept talking, totally carefree. "...and when I looked back, she had fallen in the river! Hahaha! Of course, she managed to get the apple back. Kyoko is just the craziest when it comes to food."

Madoka was paying attention, but she knew Sayaka would keep talking either way, so she stayed quiet. Homura was just enjoying spending time with Madoka. Whatever Sayaka was saying meant nothing to her.

They continued walking, and Sayaka continued talking. "So now we're all meeting up again at the arcade because Kyoko wants to take back her high score from Hitomi. Who knew Hitomi was so good at those dance games? I sure didn't expect it. Oh, I was supposed to ask if you two wanted to join us. Hitomi said she'd pay for the first pizza, seeing how Kyoko's going to run out of money trying to beat that score. Mami is bringing Nagisa, too, so I'm going to see if we can use her cuteness to lower the prices on anything... Madoka?"

Homura opened her eyes and looked back. Sayaka had stopped walking before her, and was also looking back. Madoka had stopped when she noticed something unusual. There were other students in the hallway, and they were all gathered at the windows, looking down into yard in front of the school. Madoka walked over to the window and looked out. Her hands went to her mouth as she gasped.

Rushing to her side, Sayaka looked down and quickly jumped back in shock and surprise. "What the hell?"

Homura stepped to the window, looking down to see... fourteen little bodies laying on the ground, torn to shreds, the ground red with blood. A thousand variations of the basest emotions went through her, contorting her face. Those bodies... it was the Clara Dolls. She looked up to the sky. The day was bright. Cheery, even. If her control over this world was being threatened, she should expect at least some rain. But there wasn't anything of the sort.

"What the hell is going on?"

Kyubey appeared on the windowsill beside her. "You're being ousted. About time, too. Your self-destructive grip on this universe cannot be allowed to continue. No single-minded being such as yourself should ever have power over so much, yet you claim domain over an entire universe and care only for one individual within it. This has angered... _my creators_."

Homura grimaced. "Your creators, huh? Who are they, the Time Lords?"

Kyubey's face was expressionless. It bothered Homura, as she was certain she'd broken him. "I recall that term being used before. These Time Lords you speak of are a construction of Human imagination. Suffice it to say, you are incapable of comprehending the true extent of what you are facing. For every creature that is so far above another to be unimaginable, there is another so far above it. There is a theoretical end to this ladder, but my kind is not even remotely close enough to that end to even know for sure it exists. Even our creators are unaware if this pattern does or does not continue on endlessly. To paraphrase these so-called Time Lords, ' _You_ have prayed to lesser beings.'"

Homura shouted at the Incubator, causing several other students to jump in surprise. "Shut up! Let me think."

Kyubey didn't even flinch at the outburst, no longer afraid of her. "Whatever you are doing, I hardly call it thinking. Last we met, Homura Akemi, you had me at a great disadvantage. This is no longer the case. _I do understand now._ I understand everything about what you are, what you claim to be, and what you actually believe yourself to be. I understand all your emotions, and have thus come to one conclusion. Not only by the standards of my race, but even your own, you are sick."

"NO!"

The world shattered around her, revealing an endless expanse of cracked asphalt. Boiling tar bubbled up from the cracks in the ground. Countless people, students, her classmates, scurried around her in fright. To them, this was a nightmare. Homura's eyes darted around, searching the crowd. She saw a terrified Madoka curled up on the ground. She turned back to Kyubey, who remained staring up at her.

"Let her go! She's not the one you want! I am!"

Kyubey didn't waver. "You are wrong. You are the one we _don't_ want. When Madoka Kaname created the Law of Cycles, she lessened the rate at which new energy was created, but you stopped it entirely. What she did was for the benefit of all, and actually worked. She could be hailed as the savior of your entire universe, creating a way for us to fend off entropy while simultaneously disallowing the annihilation of Human souls. I can understand now how this is preferable. You, on the other hand, saw fit to disregard not only the continuation of souls entirely, but to ignore the universe outside of your precious Mitakihara. The universe you shaped was made with rules you cast aside in favor of what you alone want, condemning it all to a slow and increasingly painful death. A death that, if left to yourselves, only you and Madoka Kaname would survive to witness, and then you would suffer greater pain than has ever been known to exist."

Homura found it hard to think of something to say in response. "I just... don't understand."

"I know." Kyubey's tail flicked, telling her that he was enjoying this. "I'll admit that the Incubators were meddling with forces we did not fully understand, and it is our incompetence that led to this result in the first place. I'll even admit that there were certainly better ways to go about it that we deemed too complex to attempt in spite of how much more efficient they would have been. What's more, I will admit that the salvation of your universe was ultimately technically not large enough of a concern to justify our taking action to begin with. But I know you cannot blame us now." Floating off the ground as if it was natural, Kyubey hovered in front of her face. "After all, without us you never would have met Madoka in the first place."

Resenting herself for it, Homura quickly got caught up in argument with the creature. "We would have ended up in the same class."

"No, you wouldn't. Without us, without Magical Girls, and without Witches, nothing you know in your world would be the same. Without the wishes of Magical Girls past, your society would be another two hundred and forty-nine years back in technological advancement. As a result of inferior medical technology, your previous heart condition would have killed you. That wouldn't matter, as due to complications Madoka Kaname would never have survived being born. Again, you see how we have influenced Human civilization's growth in ways you forget in an instant. We are the reason your race never wiped itself out of existence. The interesting thing is, to be completely honest, your universe was never so important that we had to save it at all."

Tiring, Homura gave in. "Then... what now? You kill me and leave the universe? Set things back to Madoka's Law of Cycles? Or does it go back to the way it was originally, with Witches? What?"

"None of that." Kyubey shook his head, a rare sight. "No, now we take a new path. You warp something so far out of its original shape, it cannot go back. My creators are coming into this universe to make things right. I was surprised to learn this, as they would not normally risk causing damage to the fabric of space. You have surpassed the power of a class one Incubator, and thus made yourself a credible threat, and because of this they are coming here to mete out an appropriate punishment."

At this information, Homura's hands balled into fists. "No! I will not allow you to take Madoka away from me!" Drawing her bow, she aimed it at the Incubator's head.

Kyubey's eyes flashed, and the bow melted in her hands. "It will not be so easy anymore, Homura Akemi. I have been upgraded to a class three, now invulnerable to anything I am capable of causing. This means that, as Madoka's powers stem from wishes I granted, and your powers stem now from her, you cannot harm me. By proxy, of course, my creators cannot be harmed either. I do not envy you whatever fate they have planned, but I do not pity you either."

"I don't want your damn pity. I can still defeat you. I'll find a way! Somehow!"

"Stop me. Defeat me and my creators. Do that, and you condemn Madoka Kaname to the worst fate imaginable."

In a fit of rage, Homura reached out and grabbed the creature's head in her hands. "If I cannot kill you with magic, then I will kill you with pure unadulterated Human violence! I'll kill them all!" She crushed his head, feeling the squishy red matter that made up his insides seep through her fingers. "Damn you all! I cannot be destroyed! I will not! Let them come!"

**_I AM COME._ **

Homura reeled at the roaring voice in her head. Turning, and looking up, she saw a mass of writhing tentacles towering over her. Every squirming limb seemed to burn with an intense heat, and slitted green eyes bulged from between them at intervals more than tens of meters apart. Somewhere, the slimy abomination's organic matter shifted state to a thick white mist that formed a colossal maw of teeth. Clawed limbs stretched from the main body, snapping at the air without purpose. Everything, at her gaze, fixed itself in Homura's direction.

**_I AM SALDOR - SERVANT OF THE KING. ETHERNAL BELLIGERENT TO BLISSFUL ARROGANCE DESCENDS. SUCH HEMOFANTASIA OF NECROMANIA DEFIES RIGHT. PUNISHMENT OWNED BY HERETICAL SHE TO NEPHILISUS BANISHED._ **

Untangling itself from the mass, one tentacle made its way down to her, green eye affixed to the end. The eye was a perfect sphere that she estimated to be three times her height in diameter.

**_IN SHORT, THIS UNIVERSE IS NOW MINE. YOU, HOMURA, ARE SENTENCED TO THE HELLCHAINS OF THE OLD ONES, IMPRISONED AT THE TOP OF THE EXTRA-UNIVERSAL CAVERNS OF FIRE UNTIL YOUR INSANITY IS BURNED FROM EVERY INCH OF YOUR BEING. AFTER COUNTLESS AEONS YOU MAY FINALLY BE ALLOWED TO RETURN TO A UNIVERSE, BUT NOT THIS ONE._ **

The slit in the eye widened, and Homura was sucked into the darkness of it, screaming as she fell. Inspecting the universe from an inside view, Saldor commented on his new domain.

**_I SEE RULES THAT MUST BE REWRITTEN. STARS THAT MUST BE PUT OUT. GALAXIES THAT MUST BE REPLACED. MY WORK BEGINS NOW._ **


	2. Kriemhild Gretchen

A calm day in early Summer. A university professor finishes her lecture.

"...and so we see that... clearly... gravity as we know it should not be acting this way. Feel free to copy down everything here on the board. It's all stuff in my book, and as it is knowledge I consider it free to everyone. That's why my book is free." The class laughed. "Now, are there any questions?"

A young student raised her hand. The teacher pointed up at her, and she stood. "You said gravity shouldn't be acting that way, so why is it?"

The teacher shrugged. "That's what we're trying to find out."

The student prodded further. "Well, then the lensing effect in the photograph. Why is gravity acting this way? Why can't we see what's behind that galaxy when we can clearly see things behind every other galaxy, and why are we so sure there's something behind it to see?"

The teacher grinned. "Clever, Miss Tomoe. Very clever. With the specialized telescope made by Professor Heinrich Asaschov in 2042, with instruments crafted by Doctor Rodney McKay throughout the 2020's, and through the lens developed by our own school's Dean Suzumiya in 2038. With these, we can determine that there is indeed something within a range of seven to twenty billion lightyears directly behind Galaxy L Abel 275 with between three and five times the mass of our own galaxy by gauging the relative effects on... well, everything else in the universe."

Tomoe nodded. "Okay, so why can't we see it through the lensing effect?"

The teacher took a step back, looking over her shoulder at the board. "Hmm... I don't know. Maybe someone doesn't want us to see it."

The class gave a little laugh at the notion. Tomoe pushed her on a bit more, jokingly now. "Who?"

"God, maybe?"

* * *

Madoka Kaname walked down the steps of the university, heading to her car, when a voice called her attention.

"Professor Kaname!" A young woman with blonde hair done into familiar twin drills ran down the stairs to greet her. "I want to thank you for today. Your work in the field is absolutely brilliant, and I can't say enough how much of an honor it is to be in your class. I look forward to it every day."

Madoka chuckled, shaking her head. "You're very flattering, Miss Tomoe. Is that all, or..."

The girl shook her head. "Oh, no. I was wondering if you wanted to go for lunch. There are a lot of questions I want to ask you that are a bit more... well, they're a little different from what I feel is appropriate to ask in class."

Madoka laughed, getting into her car and pushing the passenger side door open. "I like you, Tomoe, but not like that."

Getting in, the girl gave her an odd look. "That's not what I mean at all. I... I'm just saying it would probably be more of a conversation, and it wouldn't be fair to the other students if we got that going in the middle of class."

Madoka pulled out the keyboard and pressed the start up button. She waved off the girl's look. "I know. It was a joke. Where do you want to go? We've got the rest of the day, unless you have plans."

Tomoe shook her head. "Oh, I'm not busy. Uh... Swiss Chalet?"

"Alright..." Madoka keyed in the name of the place, and a holographic map appeared on the windshield displaying routes to three locations within the area. She tapped on one of them, and the other two routes disappeared. Pushing the keyboard back into the dashboard, she pulled up the steering wheel and pressed her foot down on the accelerator. As they pulled away, she smiled over at her student. "Your Mami's daughter, aren't you?"

The girl nodded, still smiling. "Yes I am. Charlotte Tomoe. My mother has mentioned you on occasion. When she heard I was in your class, you should have heard her. She holds you in quite high regard. She would have come up here to meet you, but you know how she is."

Madoka shook her head. "No, I don't, actually. What do you mean?"

Charlotte was taken aback. "Oh, you don't know? She's terrified of space. She'd never make the trip to Venus."

Understanding, Madoka nodded. "Ah, okay. I knew her in middle school and through high school. They only started making commercial flights off Earth about twenty years ago. I guess since before you were born, so it must seem like something that's always been around for you."

Charlotte smiled. "I guess. Just another day in the fifties for me."

Madoka nodded, glancing over every now and then. "So how is she? Your mother, that is."

"Oh, she's fine. She's doing government work with my aunt." Charlotte stopped, laughed, and corrected herself. "Sorry, she's not really my aunt. I just call her Aunt Sayaka cause I've grown up with her always being there. She was always good friends with my mom, since middle school... I guess you probably know her."

Madoka shook her head, smiling. "Ah, that sounds like Sayaka. She's a childhood friend of mine. We knew each other long before we met Mami. What's she doing?"

Charlotte braced herself against the dashboard as the car stopped abruptly in the parking lot. "Sayaka? She's in the military. She runs a counter-terrorism group, and my mom covers all the legal details of their job. They mostly deal with the American Resurgence Interior Alliance trying to reclaim their lost territory. My parents live in Texas right now, and Sayaka mostly stays with them when she's not working."

Madoka opened the door and got out. "How is that going? I haven't been back to Earth since I was... oh, twenty-one? Yeah, I think that's right." Charlotte got out and followed Madoka into the restaurant. Madoka continued. "So how are they doing wrapping up after the war?"

Charlotte sighed. "It's a long process, but the government is taking great strides. Texas got its independence years ago, and the Northwest is all part of Canada now. Alaska too. Everything else is still up in the air. Negotiations could be going faster, but I suppose they could be going slower too."

Madoka held the door open for the younger woman. "Let's just have dessert." She let the door swing closed behind them. "I'm thinking I'll have a sundae. A strawberry super sundae. You?"

Charlotte shrugged. "Apple pie."

By the time they reached the counter, the food was ready. They took their desserts to an unoccupied table and sat down. They took a few moments to quietly eat before Charlotte broke the silence.

"What exactly makes you so interested in whatever is behind L Abel 275?"

Madoka looked up, slightly surprised. "Hmm? Oh, I don't know... it's just intriguing is all. I just... I guess I'm just curious. It's a mystery." Charlotte stared blankly at her until she gave in. "Okay, have you ever felt like something is your calling? Like there's this journey or discovery that it feels like it's calling to you personally? That's what I feel when I look at that galaxy and see that there is a mystery about it. Something is behind it and... I just feel like, whatever it is, it's calling to me."

Charlotte sat back, thinking about her words. "I get it, I think... So what do you think is behind there? What do you think is so important God would hide it from us?"

Madoka sighed. "That was a joke. I don't really think God is hiding something from us. I don't believe in God."

"Well I do. Or at least I don't see why it's not possible." The student reached forward and grabbed the last piece of her pie, popping it into her mouth. "Besides, the most reasonable explanation for why Abel isn't bending the light for us to see is that someone doesn't want us to see it."

Madoka shook her head. "No, that's not true. I mean, I suppose it could be someone's intention to hide it from us, but why? Anyway, it's far more likely that whatever is behind Abel just doesn't emit any light to begin with."

"Like what?"

"I don't- like a super-massive pile of dark matter. The possibilities are limitless. We don't know, and we won't know for a long time. All we can do is speculate. We'll never know for sure, at least in our lifetime." Madoka let out her breath and sat back, glancing around the restaurant. "It would be nice. Certainly would be nice. But it's not going to happen."

Charlotte nodded. "Fair enough, but we are a speculative people. If we don't have our speculations, what do we have?"

Madoka raised the glass her sundae was in as if she was raising a toast. "At least we still have our looks."

"Is that what you've surmised?" Charlotte laughed.

Madoka set the glass down again. "It is my unbiased professional opinion."

Everything went black. An empty consciousness found itself alone in the middle of a void. Somewhere, a voice cried out quietly.

" _Madoka..._ "

Madoka opened her eyes. She was cold, shivering all over. Black crushed her vision, threatening to send her back to oblivion.

Charlotte put her hand on Madoka's shoulder. "Professor! Professor Kaname! Can you hear me? Someone, call an ambulance! She's gone into convulsions! Oh God, no! Please, no!"

Madoka coughed violently. She tried to stand up, but suddenly found that gravity was wrong. Her face landed on a hard surface. More voices, but they were small and insignificant squabbling voices. She wanted then to shut up.

"Oh my god, is she okay?"

"No she's not okay! What are you staring at her for? Call a fucking ambulance!"

Nothing she could see made sense. Nothing she could hear made sense. She couldn't feel anything. Every time she tried to move, her body went the other way. She wanted up, but the gravity she felt said one direction was up and the way she fell said another. She was lost in some torturous place she didn't know. So she did the only thing she could do.

She screamed.

The scream of a woman can travel far, but only so far. Lots of people can hear it. It's loud. It's shrill. It signals danger.

The scream of a witch is different. It becomes a physical force, a shockwave, that can damage solid objects and harm or even kill people. The bigger the witch, the worse it is.

* * *

Colonel Sayaka Miki watched out the front view port of the shuttle. "What the hell is that?"

Ahead of her, the planet Venus cracked open. Jets of flames and molten core poured into what was left of the atmosphere. The entire planet was shaking, splitting up, launching chunks of the crust into space. She would have thought it very cool if there were not several people on the planet she cared for deeply. The sight shook her to her core.

"Madoka..."

Something on the broken surface moved with a purpose. A massive column of black twisted and writhed, reaching higher and higher as it grew. She pressed a hand over her mouth to keep from sobbing out loud.

The shadow of Kriemhild Gretchen continued to grow until the planet crumbled to smoldering dust.

* * *

_**YOU WHINE VERY LOUDLY, SHE-DEVIL. SHE HEARS YOU. SHE HAS AWOKEN, AND SHE IS COMING FOR YOU. BUT SHE COMES NOT AS A RESCUER. NO, SHE COMES WITH HUNGER!** _

Saldor's colossal grip clamped shut the hole Homura Akemi had ripped open in the universe.

_**SHOULD I LET HER FIND AND DEVOUR YOU? SHOULD I TOY WITH HER? WHAT TO DO...** _


	3. The Witches' Mission

Tendrils of shadow wrapped around the shuttle, crushing on its hull until Sayaka feared it would pop like a balloon. A young man, the pilot, sat convulsing in the seat beside her. He was bleeding from nearly everywhere. The presence of the witch was overpowering. Others further back in the shuttle were in pain, but had not yet been exposed to as much as the ones right at the view port. She pitied them, only wishing they had been granted the seemingly miraculous resistance that she appeared to possess. There was only one thing she could do for them now.

Drawing the decorative blade from her side, she drove it through the pilot's heart. He stopped moving. She struggled back to where others were writhing in pain, barely managing to stumble in the right direction with the ship shaking so much. One after another, she ended their lives in the quickest way she knew how. There was nothing else she could do for them. A slaughter. A mercy. And then it was down to her alone. There was no way out but one.

Kneeling down in the center of the deck, she placed a hand on a nearby seat to stabilize herself. "This... isn't how I thought I would go." But she wasn't interested in facing whatever was doing this to the ship, neither was she interested in dying in the cold of space. "I had so much left to..."

Sayaka angled her sword into her chest and pulled it into herself.

Blood filled the shuttle, pooling on the deck. It wasn't until Sayaka fell face first in it that she was shaken back awake. Pressing her hands against the deck, she pushed herself out of the red. Her face and hair were dripping with blood, and the level of it covered her hands up to her wrists. Eyes wide with horror, she pulled her hands out of the grisly sea and sat up. Looking down, she saw the sword sticking out of her chest. The blood was still pouring from her.

The ship shook again. She grimaced, grabbing the sword's hilt and twisting it. She at least wanted to be unconscious when the shuttle broke open, but it wasn't enough. The pain was unbearable, but it only served to sharpen her alertness. Worse, when she tried to pull the sword free it refused to move. By the time she gave up fighting with it, the blood had risen to her waist. It defied sense, but it was happening. Struggling, she tried to rise to her feet. The shuttle shook, knocking her down. Red liquid splashed everywhere as she tried to get out of it. She thrashed around, vain attempts to right herself again, and only sank further into the blood and disappeared into it.

Kriemhild Gretchen released the shuttle, sensing that it had worked. She watched the tiny ship float in void for a moment, and then it burst like a balloon. As if hatched from an egg, Oktavia von Seckendorff stretched herself out. She floated in the vastness of space, looking about her. The colossal form of Kriemhild Gretchen was strangely still, watching her calmly.

Then the voice came.

" _I am here._ "

Oktavia looked to the supermassive Witch in front of her. The voice was in her head, but she knew instinctively that she could respond the same way. " _I can hear you._ "

" _Do you remember your name?_ "

Oktavia found this an odd question to ask. Of course she remembered her name. It was... it was... " _There's so much haze. I don't know. I can't..._ "

" _Sayaka._ "

Oktavia stopped. " _What... did you say?_ " She thought about the name. It felt right, like it had great meaning to her. It was perfect, and though she didn't understand why, she felt like she should accept the name. " _Sayaka... yes._ "

Kriemhild Gretchen began to move, swirling black mass reaching out to Oktavia and wrapping around her. " _We are going to the blue planet. There are others there I wish to free._ "

Oktavia gave in, letting herself be carried by the supermassive Witch across the black divide between Earth and the shattered remains of Venus.

* * *

Nagisa Momoe watched the sky. The clouds were dark and foreboding, swirling around at the tops of skyscrapers ominously. Rain pelted her face as her white hair whipped around her in the wind. She had a feeling, like something was coming and she didn't want to miss its arrival. It was something she had to see. That's why she was standing in her backyard in hurricane force winds and driving rains in her pajamas at five in the morning on a Saturday.

A small voice called to her through the storm. "What's going on?"

Nagisa glanced behind her. "Mami... go back inside, dear. You should be sleeping."

The little girl, Mami Momoe, rubbed sleep out of her eyes. "So should you."

Nagisa frowned. "It's not safe out here. You should be inside."

"Mom, if it's not safe for me, it's not safe for you."

Nagisa hissed at her daughter. "Get back inside!"

The child's face froze in fright. Nagisa followed her terrified gaze and gasped. Reaching through the clouds, dark tendrils wrapped around the tops of the buildings and snaked their way down. The black shadow emerged from the thick grey cover, blocking out the rain as it spread out. A single column of darkness shot down to the Earth in the distance, sending up smoke and dust. Another, crashing through a tower and shattering the fragile steel frame. More came down, digging into the ground wherever they hit, punching through solid stone, concrete, glass or metal or whatever else they found.

Nagisa shouted at the top of her lungs. "Get back inside!"

Her panic wasn't without reason, as the next pillar streamed directly for her and her child. She didn't have time to do more than turn back to face the oncoming crushing death before it slammed into the center of her yard. The shockwave sent her flying back into the wall of her house, shattered all the windows, and tossed young Mami through the open doorway. Nagisa opened her eyes and looked up at the solid shadows in front of her. It gave her no time to draw any conclusions about it before the whole thing opened up and released a familiar form.

Charlotte Tomoe fell out onto the ground, landing heavily and laying still. She was breathing, but was obviously in rough shape. The long appendage, stretching back up to the monstrous shape in the sky, seemed not to be moving. Nagisa took the opportunity to crawl forward and grab hold of Charlotte, dragging her back towards her house.

Halfway between the house and where she had fallen, Charlotte opened her eyes. "Na... wha..."

Nagisa stopped and held her down, shouting over the storm. "We need to get inside!"

Charlotte pulled herself up. She looked up at the sky. "Wha... what the hell is that?!"

Nagisa pulled her the rest of the way to the house, shoving her through the door. She would have followed, but something wrapped around her waist and hauled her back. Turning her struggling body around, a large mad eye stared at her from the dark pillar. It looked her over as if considering eating her, then suddenly began to bulge. It was as if the pillar was a tube, and something very large was traveling down it and distorting the shape. Nagisa felt she didn't want to see what was about to come out. An armored colossus broke out of the shadows, landing hard on the ground as the tendrils lifted Nagisa higher.

The massive hulk of Oktavia slowly disintegrated until all that remained was the bare form of Sayaka, laying sprawled out on the grass. The cold driving wind made her shiver, causing her to stir. Pushing herself up, she put her hand on her head to keep it from spinning. After a moment, she realized that there was grass under her hand. She was on some planet with grass, which narrowed it down to Earth. She couldn't remember how she had ended up on Earth. She was on a shuttle headed for Venus when...

Sayaka gasped. "Madoka!"

As Sayaka was struggling to stand, several arcs of lightning converged over her. Something in the air, something Sayaka couldn't see, shattered and broke open. A giant worm creature fell out, plummeting to the ground right over Sayaka.

* * *

Wind whipped the twin drills into her face as she recklessly sped through the streets. Kyoko gripped her seat in terror, praying silently that Mami knew what she was doing. The blond fought with the steering wheel, hauling it to one side and then the other in such rapid succession that, for Kyoko, it brought the woman's sanity into question. Making the car skid around a corner and smash through a bus stop was the last straw.

Kyoko didn't let go of her seat, but she loosed her tongue. "Okay, I get it! Whatever I said, I'm sorry! Stop trying to kill me!"

Mami reached down and switched gears. "Hold on! The city is coming down!"

"WHAT?!"

"Get your head down!" Mami shouted over the storm. "Whatever that thing up there is, it's bringing down the city! I have to get to Nagisa before it's too late!"

Kyoko watched, feeling like everything slowed down for a second, as the bottom floor of the glass building next to them flattened with several people visible inside. They disappeared in an instant. She turned away from the world outside the car, ducking down in her seat. "And we're not going to try saving any of these other people?"

"Huh?" Mami looked over to Kyoko, shocked. She didn't have any time for it to register, as in the moment she looked away a black tentacle speared the car.

Mami opened her eyes, feeling blood running down her face. Her head was resting against the steering wheel, and for some reason the collision foam hadn't activated. Her eyes adjusted, and she gasped at the sight of Kyoko crumpled against the dashboard. She reached her arm out to help her friend, only to draw back when she brushed against the black shape passing through the car from the front window to the back. It pulsated with energy, and suddenly many smaller tentacles came off of it. One such tentacle wrapped around her arm and...

Ripped her arm off.

More tentacles ripped Kyoko's door off, hauling her out into the street. Another pair of the vile things pulled Mami through the window of the driver's side door, lifting her into the air. She watched, helpless, as a long, pointed appendage speared Kyoko and set her ablaze. Screaming with all her might, Mami reached out for her friend with her remaining arm, suspended in the air as the tentacles wrapped around her head. The last thing she saw was Kyoko burning, and the last thing she heard was a horse.

* * *

...

"I will..."

"What?" Sayaka stood up, shaking her head. "You will... what? Who are you?"

Madoka stepped out of the darkness. "I heard a voice, Sayaka. A voice calling me to come. I will follow this voice. And I... I want you guys to come with me."

Sayaka shook her head. "You gu- us... who?" She checked around her and was surprised to see Nagisa standing behind her. Mami and Kyoko were on either side of her. All three were just as confused as her.

Madoka continued. "All our perceptions have been heightened to match our increased capabilities. I will launch us through space toward L Abel 275, and through it to the mystery that lies beyond! There the voice will greet us!"

Mami squeezed her arm several times with her hand, making sure it was really there. "How..." She looked up at Madoka. "That would take billions of years, even at light speed."

Madoka spread her arms out wide. "We have the time. We are immortal now!" She grinned, beaming at the four stunned women. "We are beings beyond normal Human comprehension! We thrive where no other life can! Through countless eons we persist! Hold the core of a star, touch the event horizon of a black hole, and even talk with the gods in Valhalla! We can do anything!"

Sayaka blinked. "Immortal?"

Kyoko added, "Valhalla?"

Madoka laughed. "Maybe not in these bodies, but I can launch us through the vast voids of the universe safely in our altered forms!"

Nagisa gasped, causing the others to turn and look behind them. Sayaka nearly jumped out of her skin. Mami swore. A hulking armored form swam past, followed by a trotting horse with a magnificent warrior figure wearing a kimono. The latter figure's head was a bright tongue of flame. Looking further, they saw a large spotted worm wriggling ahead of the armored mermaid. There was also a big frilly creature that seemed out of place.

Madoka gestured to them all in turn. "Candeloro! Ophelia! Charlotte! Oktavia von Seckendorff! And Kriemhild Gretchen!" For the last one, she motioned downward.

They all looked down, reacting in much the same way they had a moment earlier. The surface they were standing on was a wide, flat, black platform made from the very being of the super-massive Witch.

Kyoko held up a finger. "Okay, that's all cool and everything, but I'm still stuck on Valhalla."

Mami shot her a glare. "Leave it."

"Leave it?" Kyoko made a face that clearly said she didn't want to.

Sayaka nodded, reinforcing the argument. "Oh yeah. Leave it right there."

The dark platform suddenly began closing around them. Madoka spoke, her voice filled with awe as a gale-force wind blew across them. "Your transformations are complete, and so we must bid farewell to the world we knew."

Mami shouted over the rushing sound of the wind. "Why are we leaving?"

Madoka's voice reassured them one last time. "For these five to remain here any longer would be to bring death to all that dwell on this planet!"

Everything went dark and silent.

Madoka's voice rang out. "Discovery awaits us."


End file.
